


Senses

by souuuss



Series: Beyond Touch [1]
Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Character Turned Into a Ghost, Day6 Ensemble, Fluff, M/M, Supernatural Elements, brian is done with everyone, ghost! jae, i guess, jae is in denial, sungjin and dowoon only appear briefly, wonpil is just an adorable fluffball as usual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-03-10 07:32:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13497524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/souuuss/pseuds/souuuss
Summary: When he moved into his new apartment, Brian signed up for a quiet life. Not for an undead roommate and stupidly oblivious friends.





	Senses

**Author's Note:**

> This didn't go the way I planned and ended up being way longer than expected ;;  
> I love dialogues, you're warned :D

Brian was happy. His university was great, as well as the city he was going to move to. The only thing he had left to do was coming back in a few days to move all his stuff into his new apartment.

 

On the D-day, when he pulled over in front of the apartment building, Brian was ready to spend a lazy day after the few hours of bringing his things up. Fortunately, he had found someone to help him transport his furniture, and that someone was currently leaning on his pickup, waiting for him to get out of his car and open the trunk.

 

"Weren't your parents afraid of you ruining their car, though? You don't have that furniture in there but still."

 

"Well I had no choice, you know mine is a hundred times too small to take all those things. The boot is really big and it's even better if you fold the backseats," Brian replied nonchalantly. "Now, instead of worrying about my parents, will you help me take this mattress out of here?"

 

Sungjin sighed. "You really only brought what you need for a good sleep."

 

"Sleeping is living, man."

 

 

___________________

 

He didn't notice right away, too busy carrying the first pieces of furniture to the empty living room. However, when he entered the bathroom to place a small trash can under the sink, upon seeing the slightly transparent silhouette making weird faces in the mirror, he could only close his eyes and sigh loudly.

 

_Fuck._

 

Brian exited the room hastily, closing the door on the ghost's face before he could say a thing - well, not  _on his face_ really, since his glasses and part of his nose were sticking through said door. He heard the guy yelling "Hey! Rude!" but chose to ignore it while Sungjin peeked at him curiously.

 

"Something wrong?"

 

"A ghost. There's a fucking ghost in here."

 

"Language," Sungjin reprimanded. "I thought you didn't see anything when you visited the other time?"

 

"Yeah, but there's this guy with glasses behind the door," Brian said in frustration, paying no attention to the ghost protesting he hadn't done anything wrong.

 

He felt a slight change of air next to his face and turned his head to fall face to face with the glasses guy. The latter was furrowing his brows and pouting ridiculously.

 

"You look stupid, dude. Not cute at all," Brian scoffed.

 

"I'm still cuter than you,  _dude_ ," the blonde guy argued.

 

"Whatever."

 

"Tss." The ghost did a hair flip - he'd probably forgotten his hair was too short for that - with an offended expression and turned around to go back into the bathroom.

 

Brian rolled his eyes and focused back on Sungjin.

 

"What did he do?"

 

"Oh, right. He was sulking like a baby and then he said he was cuter than me before walking away like a failed diva." He paused. "And he just told me to go fuck myself."

 

"It's always funny seeing you talk to yourself but it's disappointing not being able to see spirits."

 

"I'd exchange places anytime, I swear."

 

 

The ghost didn't bother them again, except for when Brian needed to go to the bathroom to place his things - he commented on how impolite the new resident was or how hurt he was to be ignored, systematically without any reply from the said resident. Sungjin left soon, leaving Brian wondering how he would handle the guy's presence. They surely weren't off to a great start, and it proved difficult to engage in a conversation without Brian desperately wanting to smack his face.

 

"Hey, glasses. Get out of here, we have to talk."

 

"Don't wanna talk to you."

 

"Please. We're going to live together from now on, you won't be able to live in the bathroom forever."

 

He heard the other sigh before walking through the door and fortifying his body energy to lean against the wall.

 

"What do you want?" He raised his eyebrows, waiting for Brian's reply.

 

"Where were you when I visited last time?"

 

"I hid. If I was here, you wouldn't have chosen this apartment, right?" Brian shrugged. "I didn't know if you could see ghosts, but I couldn't take the risk. It's no fun living alone."

 

"You're lucky I'm not one of those people who hate you all to death. But then, why were you so rude to me if you wanted someone here so badly?"

 

"You started it."

 

"You were the one making faces at the mirror not even caring to introduce yourself to us." Brian stood up from the couch to take a glass of water. "I should've taken a look at the mirror last time. I would've noticed it was an extrasensory one." He started sipping on the water, interrupted by the blonde trying to push on the glass to splash his face. "Not gonna work. I don't have any spirit-friendly stuff in here."

 

"That's mean. At least the previous family had adapted furniture, even if they couldn't see me."

 

"If they'd been able to see and hear you, I promise they wouldn't have been so kind. I've just met you but I already want to throw you out the window." He sighed, eyeing the other male frowning at him. "How did they know you were haunting this place anyway?"

 

"The landlord told them."

 

"Why didn't he let me know?"

 

"Well, I guess he's had enough of people refusing to move here because of me."

 

Brian looked at the blond guy. He was making a silly face, but there was a hint of something else in his voice. Something sadder, akin to what Brian perceived in most spirits' voice.

 

"I'm here now," he replied, trying not to sound too serious. No way he was going to be compassionate to him after his insolence.

 

"Yeah."

 

They met eyes and looked away promptly, feeling the awkwardness creeping in.

 

"Wow. Cringey much," the blond commented. "Oh. By the way, I'm Jae."

 

"Brian."

 

"Heard that earlier."

 

"Yeah."

 

Both waited for the other to break the uncomfortable silence. As soon as Jae reopened his mouth, Brian regretted it.

 

"Hey, your friend reminded me of someone. You know who?" He paused, trying to control the hysterical laughter he was about to give in to. "Bob the Builder."

 

Brian bit his lower lip, refusing to laugh.

 

"Shut the fuck up."

 

 

___________________

 

It turned out that Jae wasn't as much of a jerk as Brian had made him out to be. He was indeed very playful and horribly tireless, but he was a fun person to be around all in all. Brian was used to living alone in a tiny apartment, so his liveliness kept him company. Jae always welcomed his return with a lame joke or an annoying question - which often resulted in both men arguing futilely.

 

On a cold day of February, one month after his arrival, Brian came home accompanied. He had waited until they were in front of his apartment complex to tell his friend he wasn't  _exactly_ living alone. Wonpil knew about his abilities -  _can you see ghosts?_ was among the first questions you asked people you just met - and had admitted to being afraid of spirits, although he couldn't sense them.

 

His friend halted before the door at the same time as Brian, looking at him and the entry pass he was holding expectantly. Brian realized he was standing there, lost in his thoughts, and hesitated for a second.

 

"I forgot to tell you something..."

 

Wonpil raised his eyebrows, eyes slightly wide like a child hanging on Brian's every word.

 

"Nothing serious, don't worry. I mean, don't worry  _too much_." He sighed. "There's someone up there with me."

 

"It's okay!" Wonpil said with a bright smile. "I don't mind meeting other people."

 

Brian squealed inwardly.  _What an innocent child._

 

"No, no, that's not it. I mean, the person living with me isn't really... alive."

 

His friend left his mouth agape.

 

"A..." He hesitated. "...ghost?"

 

Brian nodded, raised his hand and put it on Wonpil's shoulder to rub it reassuringly.

 

"No worries. He's a normal person... Well, he's annoying and always excited and too talkative, but overall a good guy."

 

Wonpil frowned a little, deep in thought, and abruptly shot Brian another cheerful smile.

 

"Okay! I trust you."

 

_Brian, you'll look weird if you just squeeze him in your arms. He's not a baby._

 

 

As soon as they entered the living room, Jae sprung out of the bedroom.

 

"Hey I have an awesome idea, wanna- wait who's that?"

 

Brian turned to Wonpil, nodding in Jae's direction.

 

"He's here. His name is Jae."

 

"Yeah but who's-"

 

"Nice to meet you! I'm Wonpil!" He bowed with a smile - it seemed like his face was made to smile - and looked around, trying to see a sign of the ghost's presence.

 

Jae looked at Brian, confused, then stared at Wonpil.

 

"He's a new friend from university," Brian explained.

 

"Why's he happy like that? Is he a fan of ghosts or what?"

 

"Actually, he's deadly afr-" Brian stopped and decided it was better not to tell Jae about Wonpil's fear. "That's just how he is. Quite a change from a certain guy complaining twenty-four seven," he added with a pointed look.

 

"You're the main cause of my complaints, though."

 

Brian glared at him and turned his attention back to Wonpil, who was clearly trying to comprehend what was going on. He shook his head. "Just ignore it. You're better off not knowing what he's saying. That idiot."

 

Wonpil pursed his lips and puffed his cheeks, causing Jae's frown to turn into a mix of distaste and what looked very much like adoration - the ghost was quick to go back to a blank face when he met Brian's eyes, though; he turned away with a huff and stayed in the doorway, unsure of what to do.

 

"We're just gonna work on some business stuff. You'll get bored so go back in the bedroom."

 

"Uh..." Jae fiddled with his fingers for a moment. "But I don't have anything to do. I can't use anything in there."

 

"I'll open a book for you to read."

 

"I can't turn the pages!"

 

Brian held himself back from swearing in exasperation. He was obviously searching for an excuse to stay with them - more specifically with Wonpil, Brian figured.

 

"Okay, stay here, but you shut up then. I don't wanna hear your bullshit while we're working." He noticed Wonpil was looking at him with wide eyes.  _To think that I tried to come off as kind and good-tempered to him._ "Sorry. This guy just brings out my dark side whenever I'm with him."

 

Brian concentrated in the papers he and Wonpil had spread on the table, ignoring Jae who was sitting beside him, looking at them like a child innocently waiting for someone to play with him. Brian was aware he was dying to say something, but apparently, his desire to stay was stronger than his urge to talk. He smirked at the blond's hands, joined on his lap and twitching ever-so-slightly, and went back to his work with no attention paid to Jae.

 

The latter ended up pacing the living room, mumbling and humming to himself, occasionally glancing at both friends. Brian could see Wonpil had trouble focusing too, looking around the place as if he was still trying to catch a glimpse of the ghost. He sighed.  _Why am I surrounded by fools?_

 

He eventually decided to cut their studying session short - they had plenty of time for that, anyway - and attempted to ease Wonpil by engaging in a casual conversation, remedying Jae's boredom at the same time. He stole glances at both, retaining Jae's reactions to Wonpil's words for later teasing. He was enjoying this way too much; if only Jae wasn't a ghost and Wonpil a spiritually-oblivious boy, he would have thought of playing the matchmaker for the two.

 

Wonpil finally left around 6 PM, the sun starting to disappear behind the tall buildings filling the city landscape. Right after Brian left the door he just closed, Jae jumped out of his seat on the couch and spoke up with speedy delivery, all the words he hadn't said in Wonpil's presence spilling out all at once.

 

"Wow what a dumb friend you got there he's so innocent - I mean naive - and why's he always smiling and laughing? Not like you're funny or anything like  _I_ could've made him laugh - not that it's something I want! But really he's so different from you and wow he seemed so stressed out about me being here I wish he could see so I could at least annoy him a bit 'cause I can't do anything because of you and that's why I always ask you to buy extrasensory stuff-"

 

Brian shoved him away with a hand pressed to his mouth, sighing tiredly.

 

"Will you shut up? I'll buy you some things tomorrow,  _okay?_ I thought it was good for you to be quiet for once, but seeing you fidgeting and roaming the room pissed me off a shit ton more."

 

"Tch. Told you I couldn't bear staying still for more than fifteen minutes. That's even worse if I'm with someone unlikable like your friend," Jae retorted with a scrunched-up nose.

 

"Whatever you say, idiot."

 

 

_________________________

 

It turned out that Jae's feigned hatred had numerous more occasions to develop, as Wonpil became Brian's regular guest along with Dowoon, a college freshman they'd met in their webtoon club - a hobby Jae regularly made fun of, even though Brian had caught him passionately reading a romance webtoon an afternoon he came home earlier than expected.

 

The three had built a pleasant friendship, with Jae being secretly jealous of their bond. Dowoon and Wonpil were aware of his perpetual presence beside them, but since Wonpil was completely spirit-blind and Dowoon only partially able to see him as a vague silhouette and hear his words as muffled sounds, he always made a show of complaining about his loneliness.

 

However, Brian, as promised, had accepted to buy him extrasensory books and the likes to keep Jae busy while the dedicated student was out. He'd even felt extraordinarily generous and bought him a phone specially made for ghosts - but that was only because Brian had received a surprise merit scholarship and didn't have anything to purchase then.

 

So, at this very moment, Jae was scrolling through his Twitter timeline, hesitating o whether he should create a new account to tweet as much as he wanted now that he  _finally_ had access to his favorite social network. When Brian tried to look at the contents of the account he owned when he was still, well, a  _living_ human, Jae elbowed him so that he'd back away without seeing a thing. Brian didn't say anything, conscious that despite their comfortable relationship, he wasn't yet willing to share his past life with him. He rejoined his other friends, who were playing an FPS game on his console, shrieking and arguing like preschoolers.

 

"I wanna play too." He threw a glance at the semi-open bedroom door and added pointedly, "Jae apparently doesn't want to join us."

 

He heard a low grumble and soon after, Jae was standing in the living room with a pout.

 

"Screw this Twitter thing. I wanna test my new ghost-friendly controller with you guys."

 

He came near the couch shyly, which was rather unusual, sitting down beside Brian. He took his designated game controller, a smirk making its way on his face as Wonpil watched the object - which, to his eyes, looked as if it was floating in the air -, mouth agape and eyes widened.

 

"Ha. That dummy is impressed, huh?" Jae noted proudly.

 

"Stop boasting. You're not the one he's looking at."

 

"As if I care."

 

"You know you do."

 

"What did he say?" Wonpil intervened curiously.

 

"He has no right to hear my precious words," Jae defended.

 

"I wouldn't want to inflict this on him."

 

"Tch. You a real jerk."

 

"Did he just say 'jerk'?" Dowoon chimed in, visibly proud of understanding one word out of the gibberish that was Jae's voice to his ears - although confused as to why Jae would call anyone a jerk.

 

Brian sighed. Once again. It seemed like he sighed a lot these days, and this one was particularly exhausting. Never would he bring all of his friends together again, he decided. He stood up and went to take a can in the fridge - an energy drink wouldn't kill - before sitting again, this time at the opposite side of the couch, thus leaving Jae and Wonpil next to each other. He waited for Jae to continue the argument, but nothing came.

 

Turned out he was blushing because Wonpil had inadvertently touched his thigh - according to Jae, the human touch, although it wasn't like a real contact to him, still felt like a light brush. Brian was torn between hilarity and exasperation. The scene unfolding before him was indeed an absurd one, to say the least: Jae was fiddling with his game controller, putting on a blank face which did not help his red face, and Wonpil was waiting for someone to talk or start the game, still stealing amazed glances in Jae's direction - and oblivious to the state he'd put him into.

 

Brian closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  _Please, let them tire themselves out quickly so they go home soon. And, most importantly, let Jae shut up after this._

 

 

_____________________

 

The new idea that got into Jae's head what that he wanted a guitar. He went on and on about how he missed making music and how he wanted to get his skills back, perfectly aware Brian was receptive to this sort of arguments - himself being a music aficionado owning not only a guitar but also a bass and a synthesizer, although he never used the latter.

 

Which resulted in him spending a not-so-decent amount of money for his undead roommate, once again, and said roommate spending his days playing around with the guitar strings, trying to remember songs he'd learned probably years ago. Brian tried hard - really hard - not to tell him off and offer his help, which he knew Jae would refuse, and had to accept putting up with the unpleasant sounds resonating in the flat.

 

However, although Jae already looked galvanized from his new goal, one particular event seemed to boost him up. And it obviously had to, yet again, with Wonpil.

 

That day, his friend had come over to borrow something from him and, at the same time, have a chat. As soon as they stepped into the living room, the noise of guitar chords strumming stopped, and a thud was heard in the bedroom. Jae came out almost panting to greet Brian and put on a very unnatural surprised expression.

 

"Oh, he's here too! Didn't think he'd come here today."

 

 _You mean you hoped he'd come today._ Brian rolled his eyes. He truly was a lost cause.

 

He chose not to start the conversation, instead picking up the books Wonpil needed from the shelves and handing them to him before relaxing on the couch, pretending not to notice Jae's pleading stare.

 

"Just go play your guitar," Brian told him after a good twenty minutes of him walking around aimlessly, looking for an excuse to stay in the same room - a pattern which had become usual whenever Wonpil was present.

 

Jae shook his head with wide eyes, while Wonpil looked up in interest.

 

"He knows how to play the guitar?" he asked, searching around the room for an instrument.

 

Jae closed his eyes and pursed his lips. Brian raised his eyebrows at him as if to say, "what's the problem if he knows anyway?" - although he already knew the answer to that.

 

"Kind of. He did, but he couldn't practice for quite some time, so he's trying to recover his skills."

 

"Oh, that's what I heard when we were in the corridor then." Jae opened his mouth while Brian held back a smirk. The blonde was the very definition of indiscreet, but he himself didn't seem to be aware of that. "But aren't extrasensory instruments super expensive?" Wonpil added, making Brian send a pointed look Jae's way because  _indeed_ , he'd almost cried when he'd seen the amount of money debited from his bank account after the purchase.

 

"Yeah, but it's okay, I've spent plenty of money for instruments before. I've got a guitar myself and some other things."

 

Wonpil jumped up with an excited smile.

 

"Can I see them?" Brian smiled too, unable to do otherwise; he could almost see stars shining in Wonpil's eyes, and that was honestly one of the cutest things ever. He led him to the big closet in his bedroom, one side filled with clothes and the other with the objects in question. Upon noticing the synthesizer, Wonpil gasped loudly and clung on Brian's arm.

 

"I love synths! Mine broke a few months ago and I wanted to buy another one but it's really expensive! Can I try it?"

 

Brian laughed - both at his innocent behavior and at Jae's disgusted face - and nodded, crouching to get the instrument out.

 

 

A few minutes later, both roommates were staring at Wonpil, dumbstruck.

 

"Okay, I admit he's not that bad. Better than you at least."

 

"You surely do know how to compliment people."

 

Jae shrugged, focusing back on the young man pressing the keys, eyes closed and lips pinched together in concentration. The music filling the room was overpowering, even more so when Wonpil was looking so different from his usual self: the bubbly guy, all cute and smiley was gone, replaced with a passionate man plunged into the realm of music created by his instrument - because indeed, it undeniably looked like it was  _his_ instrument and not Brian's - without any attention for his surroundings, which included his friend gawking at him (along with the ghost he couldn't see staring in awe. Not that the latter would ever be willing to admit it.)

 

He started humming to himself, swaying his head along the rhythm. Neither Brian nor Jae wanted to interrupt the moment - Wonpil looked so immersed, so deeply engrossed in his song that they just wanted him to keep enjoying it forever if that was ever possible.

 

But Brian made of mistake of stepping back to lean on the nearest wall, involuntarily hitting his shoulder on a shelf with a loud thud, earning himself a death glare from his roommate. The sound sufficed to snap Wonpil out of his trance. One moment, he was absorbed in his own world, blending melody with poetry, then it was over. Just like that, Wonpil opened his eyes and bit his lip when seeing his friend looking at him with a mix of guilt and affection - Brian bet that he would have been even more flustered if he'd seen the way Jae was staring at him: too bad for the ghost, Brian was good at deciphering people, and it was definitely not indifference nor animosity he was detecting in Jae's eyes.

 

Brian nodded to Wonpil with a smile to push him to keep going, but Wonpil could only reply with his own signature smile and an embarrassed giggle - which, it needed to be said, had Jae make a strangled noise Brian supposed was an expression of the internal struggle he was facing. Wonpil lifted his hands off the keyboard and scratched the back of his head, lips still curved upwards but eyes looking away.

 

"It was really good, Pili," Brian spoke up, only to break off the silence starting to settle in the room. He wished Wonpil wouldn't have felt so troubled by the attention centered on him, and another pinch of guilt tugged at his heartstrings. It was the first time he'd seen Jae so focused and serious, too. That was a side of him he hadn't discovered up until now: Jae, absorbed in something other than memes to the point of looking utterly enthralled in it, was quite a sight.

 

Despite his friend's encouragement, Wonpil chose to unplug the synthesizer and fold it away. Brian stopped him with a hand before he could go over to the bedroom and put it back in place.

 

"You can take it."

 

"Huh? But it's y-"

 

"It's okay, I don't use it anyway."

 

"Are you a hundred percent sure?" Wonpil insisted unsurely.

 

"Just give it to him. It'll be better off in his hands," Jae butted in with his usual detached tone.

 

Brian smiled.

 

"Yeah. No one will mind," he assured, throwing a quick glance to a certain blond guy.

 

 

______________________

 

"OH MY GOD BRIAN HELP ME THERE'S A GUY IN THE MIRROR HE'S LOOKING AT ME AND LAUGHING HYUNG I'M GOING TO DIE!" was what welcomed Brian as he came back after taking out the trash. His mind went blank for a second, then he sprinted to the bathroom and flung the door open, only to find Jae holding onto the medicine cupboard to stop himself from falling to the floor in hilarity while Wonpil was heaving irregular breaths, eyes as open as could be and hand on his heart.

 

When seeing both of them in front of the mirror, something inside Brian's head just clicked, and he wondered how he could have missed this all this time. It was  _obvious_ , almost stupidly so. When he came to the realization of what this implied, he smacked his head against the wall in despair, just for a split second, because his priority right there and then was to take care of the mess in front of his eyes.

 

He shot a death glare at Jae, whose hysterical laughter was covering Wonpil's heavy breathing, and went to the smaller boy to support him with his arms - his were trembling - and whisper soothing words to calm him down.

 

"Hey, don't panic, it's not an evil creature and you're not gonna die," he tried to joke.

 

"But there'ssomeone _in the mirror_ ," Wonpil retorted, his words shaky and his eyes cast to the floor in a refusal to see the ghost again.

 

Jae halted his laugh to huff in a vexed manner.

 

"What?! He thinks I'm a mirror spirit? The whole  _apartment_ belongs to me so I'm far from those cheap ghosts who can't even free themselves from a measly object."

 

"That's not exactly true since, first, you didn't buy the flat and second,  _I_ am the official resident now, but I'll let that go. More importantly," he continued, turning back to Wonpil, "let me talk. This  _thing_ (he sent Jae a sarcastic smirk) isn't stuck in here. It's an extrasensory mirror, and that's Jae."

 

“Bitch,” the ghost commented. Brian didn't take notice of it.

 

"Since this is a special item, it catches all light rays, even those usually undetectable by regular mirrors," Brian continued as gently as he could, like a father giving a rational and detailed explanation to his child to reassure him. "Which explains Jae's reflection."

 

Wonpil stared at him, nodding in a trance. Jae shot him a glare, now probably more offended than amused by his fear.

 

"Can you tell him I'm sorry, then? I didn't mean to scream like this, I just- really didn't expect a ghost to show up in front of the mirror," Wonpil said softly, still looking at the floor.

 

“You can talk to him yourself. You know you have nothing to be afraid of,” Brian encouraged with a sweet smile while Jae huffed, protesting that he was a scary and dangerous man and that, if he wanted to, he could very well give Wonpil a valid reason to be afraid of him.

 

Wonpil stood up straight, leaving his hunched position and moving his hands from the edge of the sink to put them together, fiddling with his fingers. He bit his lip, his eyes scanning the floor before he finally decided to look up. When he and Jae met eyes, Wonpil attempted a smile, which turned out to be more of a grimace.  Jae didn't help: he was looking at the other's reflection with a poker face, hands on his hips like a sassy diva waiting for an apology. Brian looked at him disapprovingly and tilted his head to tell him _if you fuck up, you’re dead._

 

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Sorry, Wonp– wait, he can’t hear me.”

 

“Of course not. It’s a freaking _mirror_ , it’s supposed to reflect images, not sounds.”

 

“Um… What did he say?” Wonpil asked shyly, flinching under Jae’s displeased expression.

 

“He just forgot you couldn’t hear him. Guess I still have to be the medium for you two.”

 

“No!” Jae cleared his throat when Brian raised his eyebrows at his sudden outburst. “I mean, it’s annoying, and you don’t want to spend all your time on this, right?”

 

Considerate Jae was a weird Jae. Brian simply let it pass. After all, his roommate knew himself he was acting very unnatural.

 

“You’re right, but do you have any better idea?” Brian scoffed when Jae shrugged, rolling his eyes.

 

Silence took over for a short moment, then Wonpil raised his voice. “Brian…” He paused, looked at Jae’s reflection with hesitation. “I mean, Jae… Brian bought you a phone a while ago, didn’t he?”

 

Jae blinked before coming to his senses and realized he was the one being addressed. He scratched his head and nodded slowly. Wonpil smiled widely without a warning, causing him to bite his lips in what Brian assumed was an attempt to hold back a squeal.

 

“Then we can use it to communicate!” Wonpil exclaimed happily. “Can you go get it? Please?”

 

Jae nodded again, troubled by Wonpil’s sudden euphoria, and stepped outside the room. Brian burst out in laughter, getting Wonpil to look at him in confusion. Brian didn’t bother to explain, overwhelmed with hilarity as he recalled Jae’s reaction to his friend speaking to him directly and, overall, how ridiculously awkward both guys were.

 

Jae came back in, making a face at the guy crouching and wiping his tears away, his cackling finally faltering. He gestured to him in the mirror in an interrogative manner, Wonpil responding by shrugging with a pout. Brian didn’t take offense on it – obviously, they wouldn’t understand, since it was their denseness he was laughing at.

 

“If you would now oblige,” Jae said sarcastically, “I got my phone.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, now you can tell him everything you said to me all this time, huh?” Brian replied brazenly. _Let’s see if you’re going to say all these supposedly-mean things to his face now, Park Jaehyung._

 

Jae let out an outraged exclamation and took his phone to write something. Wonpil looked at the mirror in expectation, eyes shining from more than the bright lighting of the room. He turned around when Jae gestured him to do so and received the phone handed to him with fascination at the flying object yet again. As he read Jae’s note, a frown took over his face.

 

“Hyung… Is it true you’re always mean to him for no reason? You must be nice to others…” Wonpil told Brian, sulking.

 

“The fuck?” Brian exclaimed. He was the nice one for not ignoring Jae and allowing him to stick around, and that’s what he got in return? “He’s lying. I’m _never ever_ mean without a reason. He should question himself first.”

 

Jae snatched his handphone back, furiously typing something.

 

“Stop trying to get at him. He’s too kind for his own good,” Brian protested.

 

“I don’t really know if that’s a compliment, but thanks, hyung, that’s cute!”

 

“Huh! You’re the cute one now! Am I not the cutest here?”

 

“I told you from the get-go. You ain’t the slightest bit cute. That’s literally the first thing I told you when we met, do you not remember?”

 

“I don’t feel the need to retain false statements, thank you,” Jae replied while giving back the phone to Wonpil.

 

“Wow, you’re so shamel–”

 

“You really think I’m cute, hyung? Pilipili is such an adorable nickname! Why don’t you call me that when we’re together?” Wonpil cut in enthusiastically.

 

"Exposed," Jae shouted out, followed by a faint "bruh."

 

“Just… just don’t comment on it,” Brian muttered, face turned pink. “But! Jae’s always saying you’re disgustingly innocent, when it’s obvious he likes it. He blushes whenever you smile or something and he always fails at hiding it.” He smirked in triumph at Jae’s shriek.

 

“What are you even saying?! When did I ever?” the blonde revolted, letting out a brief shout when he noticed Wonpil’s shy grin. “And why is he like this?!”

 

“Your whole attitude is contradicting what you’re trying to make me think,” Brian deadpanned, one corner of his mouth raised in mockery.

 

“Shut it.” Jae claimed the phone once more and upon reading his new note, Wonpil pouted.

 

“Oh… Okay then,” he said in defeat. “Sorry for annoying you, I didn’t want to…”

 

“Jae-FUCKING-hyung what did you tell him?!”

 

Jae raised his hands defensively, searching for the right words in the midst of his panic.

 

“H-Hey that’s not what I meant! Tell him he doesn’t bother me for _real_ , it’s just- I’m not used to people acting cute and all and now that he can see me and somehow interact with me I feel more vulnerable because he can act this way towards me too so yeah, he’s kinda cu– no I mean he’s not that annoying and shit I can’t explain properly so just tell him I’m sorry,” Jae ended up blurting out all at once.

 

“Wow.” Brian turned to Wonpil who was looking at him expectantly, having witnessed Jae’s sudden agitation without his actual words. “So basically, he just phrased it poorly and he just wanted to clear up what I said about him, he does find you cute but it’s awkward for him, so he doesn’t know how to handle it and instead prefers making sarcastic comments to hide his feelings.”

 

“You _had_ to say it like that. I’m never asking for your help again.”

 

"You know that's not true."

 

Wonpil seemed to think for a moment and sighed softly. He stared at Jae in the mirror – the blonde casting his eyes down for once – and tilted his head. “Mmmh… it’s alright, but let’s be careful with our words from now on, okay?” he suggested with a boxy smile. “I was about to think you didn’t like me…”

 

Brian eyed Jae and wiggled his eyebrows when they met eyes, to which Jae responded by discreetly flipping him off. He abruptly decided he’d had enough of all this mess and turned around to open the door.

 

“Wait, where are you going?”

 

“I don’t have to be here, you can just communicate using your damn phone. Plus, I’m hungry,” Brian replied, ignoring Jae’s glare and Wonpil’s puppy stare.

 

_Oh god, finally, a freaking break from those two._

 

 

____________________

 

From this precise day, weirdly enough, his friend came by much more frequently. He usually stayed in the living room with Brian, all the while texting Jae – exchanging numbers was after all easier than passing Jae’s phone back and forth. Sometimes, his undead roommate would join them to play video games, other times he would just be in Brian’s bed, scrolling through his phone or reading a book. Brian felt like a proud friend when he saw how their relationship had grown in the span of three weeks. They naturally went from two awkward strangers to friends – or that’s what they said –, one picking on the other and the other whining about it knowing it was all for fun. In all honesty, Brian almost felt like the third wheel, but if he ever were to say that, he knew both Wonpil and Jae would protest and pretend there was nothing of that sort going on there – the most blatant lie he would have ever heard his whole life.

 

On top of all this, another discovery added to their ability to communicate: Jae’s phone – which he only really used to watch videos on Youtube and look at his Twitter –, being specifically designed for ghosts to use just like living humans, also had an extrasensory camera. Which not only meant Wonpil could see him through the screen and take pictures, but also that he would be able to film him and hear his voice. When Wonpil told them he’d had this revelation – which wasn’t that much of a revelation really, since just a little bit of the logic they all seemed to lack would have been enough to find out –, Jae screamed in excitement while Brian sighed, both because he knew the two were now going to spend their time enjoying that feature and because Jae’s exclamation had nearly pierced his eardrums.

 

The day Brian decided to quit came not long after. He was preparing to rest after a long day’s work, regardless of how noisy Jae and Wonpil – who had gotten there earlier, one of his professors being sick – were going to be.

 

When he turned the doorknob, he was surprised to hear absolutely nothing. He came closer to the bedroom and stuck his ear to the closed door, still perceiving no sound. He was about to open the door when a muffled sound – like something falling on the floor – signaled him his friends were in the bathroom instead. At this moment, Brian felt something weird in the back of his mind: why wasn’t Wonpil speaking if they were conversing through the mirror? And why were they in the bathroom of all places, when they were more often than not in any other room these days?

 

Brian decided to ignore his intuition – _why did I do this?_ He’d ask himself every day afterward – and tiptoed towards the bathroom. He waited for a bit, debating on whether it was right to eavesdrop on his friends, and went for it anyway. He leaned in and peeked through the hole.

 

He barely held back a horrified noise.

 

It was the _most ridiculous_ and yet most adorable scene he’d ever seen. Wonpil and Jae were face to face – no, actually, face _in_ face –, Wonpil in front of the mirror. Jae was pressed against him, one hand on his cheek and the other in his hair, and his lips on Wonpil’s. Of course, he wasn’t really touching him, but he seemed like he really believed he was. As for Wonpil, he looked way more confused: his eyes were open, probably searching for the right position through the mirror, and his hands moved clumsily before he resigned himself to letting them hang at his sides. Brian stifled a laugh, imagining how Wonpil was viewing the scene: himself, in front of the reflecting surface, seeing his silhouette through Jae’s faintly transparent body and not even able to see the other’s face. _How embarrassing._

 

Brian felt a mix of disgust and fondness. From one perspective, witnessing his friends’ first kiss – no doubt about that: it was their first one, from their attitudes – was absolutely repulsive, all the more since Jae was kind of translucid enough for Brian to see Wonpil’s lips moving in the air but, on the other hand, he couldn’t help but smile at the adorableness exuding from their couple. Jae was so tall compared to Wonpil he had to slightly bend over to attain his face, and Wonpil just looked so tiny in his arms that Brian was reminded of a fluffy little teddy bear being hugged by a leggier teddy bear.

 

But, out of principle, Brian decided that he was going to feel scandalized about his friends making out in his own bathroom.

 

And, most importantly, he was going to get away from this goddamn door.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! :)  
> If there are any grammar mistakes or anything like that forgive me, I'm not a native English speaker haha  
> I feel like I drifted from the original idea too much, thus missing a lot of points. I'm planning to write a sequel to this, more centered around Jae's past. What's left is a developed plot and the motivation I'll need to write it :'D
> 
> Thank you for reading! :D


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